Fire secretary quits amid concern over $1M truck issue

GREENVILLE — The secretary of the Greenville Fire District has quit, protesting the board majority's conduct in its pursuit of a nearly $1 million ladder truck.

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By John Sullivan

recordonline.com

By John Sullivan

Posted Jul. 10, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By John Sullivan
Posted Jul. 10, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

GREENVILLE — The secretary of the Greenville Fire District has quit, protesting the board majority's conduct in its pursuit of a nearly $1 million ladder truck.

"I don't feel that the current chairman or the attorney have the best interest of the people of Greenville in mind, and I cannot be a part of that," wrote Lisa Emanuelle, the fire district secretary, in a resignation letter submitted on June 25.

Emanuelle was referring to Chairman Scott Holowach, who along with Greg Einsfeld and Jack Coogan, and the board's lawyer, Frank Simeone, have been under fire from a public increasingly concerned about the prospect of the town buying a 75-foot-tall ladder truck in a town with no buildings even half that tall.

Holowach took over as board chairman in May after he, Einsfeld and Coogan stripped Commissioner Paul Witkowski of the board leadership for obstructing their attempts to pay for the fire truck.

On June 11, residents and town officials delivered a petition with more than 600 signatures calling for a special referendum on the planned purchase. Just two days later, at a hastily-convened meeting, the commission withdrew a former board approval of the purchase, effectively quashing the call for a referendum.

It was Emanuelle's job to properly notify the public about the June 13 special meeting.

The state's Open Meetings Law requires she post such notice in highly visible public offices and that news media be contacted.

The former secretary said she did neither.

Asked about the proper notice requirement at a Tuesday fire board meeting, Holowach said he personally put up the notices on Town Hall and fire district doors. However he did not notify the press, as that job is relegated to the district's attorney, Scott Dow, from Simeone's firm. "I just assumed he (Dow) did it," Holowach said.

Dow did not respond to emails asking about the media call.

According to a press release drafted by Simeone's firm, the decision by Holowach, Einsfeld and Coogan to cancel the ladder truck purchase stemmed from a realization that the district did not have enough money to pay for it. According to the release, that realization occurred on June 11.

Emanuelle, however, contends Witkowski and fire district Treasurer Fran Multari warned the three commissioners about the insufficiency of funds more than a month prior. The three commissioners went forward with resolutions to both transfer money and purchase the ladder truck, anyway, while also removing Witkowski as the fire board chairman, she said.

Emanuelle accused Simeone's firm of siding with the three majority commissioners in the dispute, noting that the law firm wrote the resolution to remove Witkowski from the chairmanship. Dow, who was not at the Tuesday night meeting, did not respond to emailed questions about the allegation.